GIG NUMBER NINETY-EIGHT
Who
Ticket touts were directly outside Brixton station so we investigated. We were told standing tickets were going for £20, but then the price was immediately bumped up to £40. Being disgusted by such dishonesty we went to a local pub, the only consolation being some friendly advice that we may get tickets for cheaper near the entrance. Although being the friendliest pub around we still felt we could be shot at any moment. I figured that as we were here we may as well have a drink and that ticket prices could only go down the longer we waited. We set ourselves a £25 limit and decided to move on quickly as my pint was particularly unappetising. Considering I'd spent the afternoon drinking I felt incredibly alert and up for doing something. We thought we'd go up to the entrance to check out the "best venue in Britain" and find out what the prices were and I thought it was worth the trip alone to see the famous Brixton Academy dome. I still didn't believe we'd end up going in though. We saw a few touts and we inquired into two standing tickets. We were foolish enough to suggest a price of £25, anticipating he'd want more, but from his quick agreement it seems obvious we could have paid less. A bit silly but I can't complain. £25 is a sensible price, especially considering how in-demand this show had been. It's what I'd consider to be a fair mark-up and it was a genuine ticket. The tout was even a friendly guy, who'd lived in Manchester, so we had something in common. Touting is a supremely dodgy subject. Obviously aggressive and unpleasant touts, or those charging extortionate mark-ups are downright evil, but a guy making a bit of profit by selling a ticket at a sensible price is fine. Some touting will always happen until venues adopt sensible ticket return policies. I'd go as far as to say it's a great thing that if you're committed enough to travel to the venue you will almost always be able to buy a ticket for a vaguely sensible price. But that's quite enough chit-chat.
The deed was done and, in a state of disbelief, we walked through the doors, relieved that our tickets got us in. By now I was literally jumping up and down and screaming with excitement!! I txtd Jon to say I'd actually done it and I was in Brixton Academy. Jon had told me they'd played Power Out on the first night, which boded well. It was just after 9pm so the support had finished. We walked into the venue, which was a theatre room with a sloping floor. It was nice but didn't immediately strike me as being "perfect". We pushed our way forwards past the crowds standing back for no reason and settled on a spot quite far towards the right a few moments before the band came on. A night that could have ended with my passing out unconscious with drunkenness was now going to finish with Arcade Fire live! I felt fantastic, alert, and also very happy. Why can't drink always make me feel like that?! Arcade Fire came onstage and I applauded madly, still in a state of utter disbelief that we were here. They played Keep The Car Running. The sound quality was poor but they quickly sorted it out. They then played Black Mirror and No Cars Go. This was so much better - after seeing them before I felt more willing to embrace the Neon Bible tracks, and No Cars Go was much more exciting now it wasn't played at the very outset. There's no point repeating myself on every point in my last review - It was a very similar show. You can see what the stage set-up was like from Matt's photo at the top of the page. In fact the only song that had been dropped was (Antichrist Television Blues) which made next to no difference.
Now I'd seen them live and had spent a few days subconsciously absorbing everything about them it was much more exciting and I was much more up for it. The crowd were better. The venue was nicer. I was doing the same thing again but it was worthwhile. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations struck me as astonishing. The only complaint I could make was the number of people pushing past us, and perhaps the anxiety of wondering what they'd play next. Win admitted that he thought he wouldn't have played tonight due to having a bad throat. He wasn't joking either - the band had to cancel the final part of their tour. However, he got through tonight very well, defying his doctor by continuing the shows! Apart from Power Out, I also felt desperate to hear Tunnels and Wake Up, so was very relieved when Tunnels was next. It was a bit earlier in the show than it had been in Manchester and this subtle switch had transformed the balance of the show for the better. Ironically, I'd pinned so much hope on Tunnels and it wasn't as good. The element of surprise was gone, and it was the Neon Bible tracks I was enjoying the most! I was still singing along manically though. Crown Of Love was just as wonderful as before though, and Rebellion (Lies) was prevented from being a redundant repeat viewing by the crowd singing it back beautifully at the end. Win just stared at us with astonishment as we spontaneously indulged in the most tuneful bit of audience participation I'd ever heard. The main set finished with Intervention before the first of hopefully many token encores. I was still on a high and felt totally convinced that the band wouldn't let me down. The band returned to Wake Up and I screamed along like never before. The crowd were better, but once again the surprise element had gone. The thing that was really keeping my attention was the thought that they were about to play Power Out and make this night a tremendous triumph.
I was a bit surprised when the band left the stage again for yet another token encore, and even more shocked when they came back on and mumbled their way through the musically slight Neon Bible. They were now starting to taunt me just a bit too much and my patience was wearing thin. And then the band left the stage AGAIN. WHY????? But the lights then went up. Everyone looked around in astonishment. But nobody was as surprised as me - they'd done it again! This time the crowd were sufficiently enraged to boo before walking out, and I hope the band took note. Closing with Neon Bible was like a sick joke, as it barely was good enough even to act as a short bridge before Power Out. And they'd finished early again too! So this is the point where I should decide I hate Arcade Fire forever. My agony was further compounded when I discovered that this was the only one of four nights at Brixton where they hadn't bothered to play it!! And to think if I'd had gone on Wednesday night instead I'd had got everything, even Neighborhood #2 (Laika) as a second cherry on the cake! But strangely enough I again found my love of the good songs they'd played was what dominated my thoughts, and I'd become an even bigger fan! It was partly because I'd been in such a good mood, and perhaps also the shock of them not playing Power Out was so traumatic my mind couldn't process what awful luck I'd had! Arcade Fire had again defied all my expectations, redefined what my favourite songs were, and left me feeling happy but for unexpected reasons. Maybe I can see them do all four nights in Brixton on a future tour. Strangely enough both Nine Inch Nails and The Fratellis were also to play four nights here. It was my first London gig and it won't be my last! This time I'll go with 8.5/10 - I'd never had thought they could get away with not playing it again and get a good review, but somehow they have! But next time they won't, I promise!!
Mark: 8.5/10
Arcade Fire
Where
London Brixton Academy
When
15th March 2007
Price
£18.50 (I paid £25.00)
Who with
Matt
Position
Towards the right
Comments
I never planned this. Indeed, after seeing them last time and being so sorely disappointed a repeat viewing was not on my mind when I walked out the doors of Manchester Apollo. Nevertheless, six days later I surprised myself and did what I'd jokingly suggested doing but never expected I'd actually do. The only other time I'd seen a band twice on a tour is SFA in 2005, which had turned out great. This show was a supremely dodgy prospect. I knew it would be hugely expensive, a lot of effort and how crushing it would be if they didn't play Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) again. I'm very glad I did go, but for totally different reasons to what I'd imagined. March 2007 was a very expensive month for me. A trip to Manchester plus my birthday was also accompanied by a visit to London. As discussed at the tail end of my last review I'd been listening to Tunnels and Wake Up almost continuously and couldn't get them out of my brain. When I noticed Arcade Fire were playing Brixton on the four nights I was in London I felt sorely tempted. On the Wednesday night I couldn't stop thinking about it and we ended up in Camden. I was now completely up for going but Matt developed a most inconvenient headache so I thought that would be it. On the Thursday we went to the Tate Britain, then on an afternoon pub-crawl. We were following an advertised crawl but soon realised all the pubs were by the same company and therefore were selling a very limited range of beers, defying the point of a Real Ale crawl! It was under the influence of alcohol that I persuaded Matt to go to Brixton. We had nothing better to do, and it was a chance to go a bit further on the Victoria Line than ever before at no extra cost to us if nothing else.
Setlist
Keep The Car Running
Black Mirror
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Windowsill
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Crown Of Love
The Well And The Lighthouse
Ocean Of Noise
Rebellion (Lies)
Intervention
Wake Up
Neon Bible
